The Tragedy of Texas

Well, Texas. That’s got to be the topic of today. Of course, it is normal, in the middle of winter, for some places that snow doesn’t regularly fall, to have traffic problems and other minor inconveniences which gives everybody up north a few laughs and seldom kills anybody.
But, this is a bit worse. The power’s out, a lot of places are without water, and the snow is more than just a little bit. From the pictures I’ve seen, this would rate as serious snowfall up north as well. So, I will refrain from the cheap jokes and say I do wish all my friends in Texas well. Hope you get power and water back soon, and have plenty of warm clothes to wear until you do get it all sorted.
One extra negative side effect of the current woes, however, is that it may make it even harder to convince some Texans, those who understand slogans better than science, the Global Warming is real and this is the result of it. I suspect it’s the ‘global’ part that’s got them confused right about now. But, if there were a national grid based on wind and solar power, as Bernie suggested, or even an international grid, as Buckminster Fuller suggested, more than a half century ago, Texas would not be without power now. Connections with the outside world are vital. Secession is silly talk.
If we were to plant about a gazillion new trees worldwide (and Texas certainly has room for a lot of them), and improve public transport and rail travel, we might be able to clean some of the carbon out of the air and reverse global warming, or at least slow it down.
People in Texas should support this. Because, as you’ve just seen, you’re one of the areas that’s going to be hard hit by global climate change. Saying it’s not real is not going to make it go away.